I’ve been receiving questions from concerned friends and family about how radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is affecting the marine environment and human seafood consumption. As ocean lovers, I’m sure you’re equally concerned. After reading different scientific articles and speaking with experts, I found that there are local impacts from radiation to humans and marine life around Fukushima – but impacts from radiation on the rest of the Pacific Ocean are not expected to be harmful to human consumers and marine animals.

Human tragedy and nuclear power plant meltdown

The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011 was a human tragedy, killing at least 15,550 people and displacing more than 130,000 people. Economic losses caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Japan came to $210 billion, making it the costliest natural catastrophe of all time. This event also triggered the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant meltdown, creating a radiation scare around the world. The plant released radiation from:

atmospheric deposition due to the meltdown during mid-March 2011;

direct discharge from the plant;

river runoff; and

contaminated underground water flow.

The latter three sources are now small and continuous sources of input. These pathways introduced mostly iodine-131, cesium-137 and cesium-134 but also low levels of tellurium, uranium and strontium to the area surrounding the power plant.

Radiation from the plant is impacting the area near the disaster. In local coastal waters and bottom sediments near Fukushima, cesium levels for certain marine life, such as bottom-dwelling fish, have been above the Japanese government’s limits for seafood and have prompted local fishery closures and nearby countries to ban importing fish caught near Fukushima. Direct exposure to leaking nuclear waste storage tanks is causing health problems among plant workers. The power plant meltdown also likely caused higher rates of certain cancers – which will unfold in the years to come – in local residents.

The implications for the larger Pacific Ocean, however, will be much less deleterious. In the Pacific Ocean, currents, eddies and other physical ocean dynamics dilute radiation from Fukushima, making these concentrations much lower in the ocean with distance and time. While the overall concentration of radionuclides will increase in the Pacific Ocean from pre-Fukushima levels, the increased levels will not likely be enough to be harmful to marine animals and human consumers outside the local area.

For example, migratory Pacific bluefin tuna, traveling from Japan to California, had elevated radiation levels of cesium-134 in 2012, a year after the Fukushima accident, but these levels were below safety guidelines for public health and less than half those from 2011.

To understand health risks, scientists also calculated that the additional dose from Fukushima radionuclides to humans consuming tainted Pacific bluefin tuna in the United States was 0.9 and 4.7 μSv for average consumers and subsistence fishermen, respectively. Such radiation doses are comparable to, or less than, the dose all humans routinely obtain from naturally occurring radionuclides in many food items, medical treatments or air travel. (From a sustainable seafood perspective, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch recommends avoiding bluefin tuna since they are being caught faster than they can reproduce.) With more scientific research, we can better understand how radioactivity from Fukushima will affect marine life and the food chain.

Dr. Ken Buesseler, senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has been studying the spread and impacts of radiation from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean. He has an analogy to help understand the movement of Fukushima-derived radiation as it enters the ocean:

“The spread of cesium once it enters the ocean can be understood by the analogy of mixing cream into coffee. At first, they are separate and distinguishable, but just as we start to stir the cream forms long, narrow filaments or streaks in the water. The streaks became longer and narrower as they moved off shore, where diffusive processes began to homogenize and dilute the radionuclides. In the ocean, diffusion is helped along by ocean eddies, squirts, and jets that broaden, mix, and continue to dilute the cesium as it travels across the ocean. With distance and time, radionuclide concentrations become much lower in the ocean, something that our measurements confirm.”

Ocean Conservancy created a Tsunami Debris Field Guide that highlights the most common items of debris that have been washing onto West Coast beaches. Click the image to download the complete version.

Marine debris generated from the March 11th tsunami is drastically different from the ocean trash that was already plaguing our ocean. Over the coming months, there may be many difficult-to-collect debris items from the tsunami such as housing and construction materials, fishing gear and vessels. We could also find potentially dangerous items such as combustibles, as well as personal items related to the victims. Therefore, it is critical that volunteers and beachcombers document each item of debris they encounter on beaches with the highest level of scrutiny.

The field guide is NOT intended to forecast the arrival of tsunami debris and it’s imperative to remember that debris from foreign countries regularly washes onto U.S. West Coast beaches, so Asian characters on debris alone do not confirm it originated during the tsunami. The field guide provides Cleanup volunteers an educational tool so they can identify potential tsunami debris while sauntering West Coast beaches. International Coastal Cleanup participants have been using the field guide during the International Coastal Cleanup, noting any suspected tsunami debris items in the Items of Local Concern section on the Cleanup data card. These data will be analyzed in the months following the Cleanup and compared with tsunami debris model predictions. There are also protocols for handling and reporting suspected tsunami debris on the field guide.

The Tsunami Debris Field Guide can be found at Ocean Conservancy’s Tsunami Debris Action Center, along with other information about tsunami debris, what to do if you’ve found suspected tsunami debris, and how to differentiate tsunami debris from ocean trash. You can also enter your email address below to sign up to receive tsunami debris updates as new information becomes available:

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If you see a significant debris sighting, please send a photo and as much information as possible to DisasterDebris@noaa.gov.

Ocean Conservancy welcomes Japan’s contribution of support and assistance to the tsunami debris response effort – and just as governments are working together on the issue, so have nonprofit organizations. For more than 20 years, Ocean Conservancy has worked closely with our partners, the Japanese Environmental Action Network, tackling preventable ocean trash. Now, they are on the forefront for response efforts following the tsunami. The magnitude of debris that will wash onto U.S. West coast beaches remains uncertain; therefore, the best action we can take at the moment is ensuring we are adequately prepared to handle any and all predicted debris.

It’s important to remember that debris generated from the tsunami is drastically different from the ocean trash that has plagued our ocean long before the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It is likely that over the coming months, there will be many difficult-to-collect debris items from the tsunami including housing and construction materials, fishing materials and vessels, potentially dangerous items such as combustibles, and also personal items related to the victims. That’s why Ocean Conservancy’s upcoming International Coastal Cleanup – coming up on September 15th – is more important than ever.

Ocean Conservancy has developed a Tsunami Debris Field Guide that serves as an educational tool for those volunteers along the West Coast. The field guide highlights the most common items of debris that have been washing onto beaches in unusually large numbers compared to historical Cleanup data. We’re asking Cleanup volunteers to note any suspected tsunami debris items in the Items of Local Concern section on the International Coastal Cleanup data card, so that we can analyze these data in the months following the Cleanup and compare them with current predictions from tsunami debris models.

The Cleanup represents an international network of engaged volunteers, working together toward one goal – to tackle marine debris – and their spirit and devotion to ridding our ocean of trash has not wavered in the aftermath of the tragic Japan earthquake and tsunami.

]]>http://blog.oceanconservancy.org/2012/09/11/japan-shows-commitment-to-tsunami-debris-response-efforts/feed/0Potential Tsunami Debris Found During Alaska Beach Cleanuphttp://blog.oceanconservancy.org/2012/09/06/potential-tsunami-debris-found-during-alaska-beach-cleanup/
http://blog.oceanconservancy.org/2012/09/06/potential-tsunami-debris-found-during-alaska-beach-cleanup/#commentsThu, 06 Sep 2012 15:47:14 +0000Andrew Hartsighttp://blog.oceanconservancy.org/?p=2850The coast of southeast Alaska is renowned for its stunning beauty, and the pocket beach outside the town of Sitka was no exception: dark sand piled with tangles of storm-tossed logs and fringed with emerald grass. From a distance, the beach looked pristine.

But as our boat pulled closer, we began to see what we had come for: trash. Chunks of polystyrene foam, plastic bottles, lengths of line, bits of faded blue tarp and pieces of netting were wedged in the piles of driftwood and strewn in the beach grass. It was time to get to work.

I was in Sitka to take part in a series of beach cleanups that brought together staff from Ocean Conservancy, the Marine Conservation Alliance Foundation and the Sitka Sound Science Center, along with volunteers from Allen Marine and Holland America Line. Together, we set out to find and remove marine debris that had washed up on the shores of nearby islands.

Ocean trash is a big problem, even in relatively remote places like the coast of Alaska. Marine debris can injure people, entangle marine mammals, enter the food web and threaten the overall ocean ecosystem—and it is a real eyesore. Removing trash from beaches reduces these threats and promotes ecosystem resilience.

In our cleanups outside Sitka, chunks of polystyrene foam made up the bulk of the trash we found. The locals from southeast Alaska said that while they have always found foam on their beaches, they were finding more and bigger chunks of it this year. The increase may be a result of the Japanese tsunami, but at this point, it is impossible to say for sure.

Regardless of whether the foam we found on the beaches outside Sitka was from the tsunami or not, tsunami debris amounts to a tiny fraction of the trash that’s in our ocean. And for the most part, the problem of ocean trash is entirely preventable. Everyone has a role to play: we can all reduce our consumption of one-time use products, dispose of waste in a responsible way that keeps trash out of the ocean, tell our political leaders to provide the resources necessary to deal with the problem of ocean trash and take part in a cleanup close to home.

The beach cleanups in Sitka were a great success. We removed a lot of debris from a beautiful part of Alaska’s coast. And along the way, we saw humpback whales, sea otters, Steller seal lions, Sitka black-tailed deer—and brown bear tracks in the beach sand. While I can’t guarantee that you’ll be so lucky with your wildlife sightings, I can guarantee that participating in a local cleanup will help to create a safer, healthier, more resilient ocean that benefits marine wildlife and coastal communities.

How much are some people willing to give to solve the problem of ocean trash? In the case of the amazing partners who organize the International Coastal Cleanup across entire countries and U.S. states, the answer is: everything they have.

We call them the “sea stars of the Cleanup.” Meet just two, Azusa Kojima and Yoshiko Ohkura from JEAN (Japan Environmental Action Network).

Like their fellow coordinators around the world, they manage a host of responsibilities, including:

identifying sites on the water to be cleaned and overseeing those sites;

JEAN’s efforts on behalf of the Cleanup for more than 20 years are legion. Now the recognized marine debris leader in Japan, JEAN unified existing cleanup efforts and inspired more participation by educating the public about the dangers of ocean trash. From 800 volunteers at 80 sites in 1990, JEAN has grown the Cleanup exponentially, with more than 22,000 volunteers at 234 sites in the peak year to date.

“We have engaged our network of Cleanup coordinators every year for the Cleanup, and once again, they are sharing their connections, research and ideas to help prepare for what may come,” says Dave Pittenger, director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program.

It’s easy to see that the ripple effect carries the vision of trash free seas from coordinator to coordinator, and from lakes and rivers to the ocean’s shores. That’s why we salute each and every one of them.

Sonya Besteiro, who works with coordinators year-round as associate director of the Cleanup, says, “The International Coastal Cleanup would never have grown into the world’s largest volunteer effort for ocean health without all the dedicated people who make it happen in their corner of the world.”

A 66-foot dock that washed up in Oregon was identified and confirmed as tsunami-related debris. Credit: NOAA

As Interim President and CEO of Ocean Conservancy and a resident of the Pacific Northwest, I watched with concern the news of a large Japanese dock landing in Oregon after being washed away by the devastating 2011 tsunami in Japan. In the Tacoma News Tribune, I explain why we should be concerned about the tsunami debris heading our way and what we can do:

While it is still too soon to know exactly how big a problem this debris will be for U.S. shores, the International Pacific Research Center estimates that 5 percent or less of the approximately 1.5 million tons of debris in the Pacific Ocean could make landfall.

To prepare for what might come, we should prioritize baseline monitoring, modeling and outreach in communities. Ocean Conservancy has been working closely with the Obama administration, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as they ramp up response efforts.

In addition to monitoring and volunteer cleanups, we also should be advocating for the resources that may be needed to deal with the aftermath of a disaster of this magnitude.

Mawar is the Malaysian word for rose, but Typhoon Mawar has been nothing but a thorn since we arrived in Yokohama, Japan. Like hurricanes, typhoons form when tropical depressions escalate into cyclones; in the Pacific, these cyclones are called typhoons, while in the Atlantic they are known as hurricanes.

This past weekend, Mawar delivered heavy rain and sustained winds of 110 mph to the Philippines, gusting up to 130 mph and taking the lives of eight Filipinos. We felt peripheral effects of Mawar in Japan as intensifying winds and strong gusts jostled boats and tested the strength of dock lines in the marina.

So far, Mawar has delayed our departure on the Algalita/5 Gyres Japan Tsunami Debris Expedition by almost one week. To say anticipation and angst on board has been high would be an understatement. However, we have not allowed our time on land to be wasted.

Several of us traveled to a nearby beach that sits adjacent to the Sea Paradise Amusement Park. With roller coasters and a Ferris wheel as backdrop, we surveyed the crescent-shaped beach using NOAA’s Shoreline Monitoring Protocol, incorporating a microplastics sampling component recently designed by 5 Gyres Institute.

Plastic fragments dominated the rag line — the tide line on the beach where seaweed, shells and debris accumulate — and cigarette butts and food wrappers comprise the majority of items found toward the berm. None of the items we found indicated this debris was tsunami-generated.

As our departure nears, uncertainty still lingers regarding our debris encounters. We know we will find plastic and trash, but what type and how much, if any, tsunami debris we will encounter remains unknown.

No indecision exists among my crewmatesthough. The passion and determination for trash free seas exhibited by each crewmember is inspiring, and there’s no question that we are ready for whatever Poseidon has in store for us.

This evening, I opened a card with words inside that flawlessly capture the spirit and purpose embodied by each person aboard this expedition: